The Democratic group Duty and Country has also begun sending out mailers describing West Virginia GOP Senate candidate Rep. Evan Jenkins as "part of the swamp, part of the problem." | Alex Wong/Getty Images

Democrats meddle in West Virginia’s GOP Senate primary

A group aims to boost Don Blankenship, a recently imprisoned coal executive.

National Democrats launched a campaign Thursday to intervene in the upcoming West Virginia Senate GOP primary — an effort that could be designed to help recently imprisoned coal baron Don Blankenship win the Republican nomination.

Duty and Country, a Washington-based Super PAC, began airing TV and web ads savaging the two mainstream Republican candidates, Rep. Evan Jenkins and state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, who are competing in the May 8 primary. Left off the group’s target list, however, was Blankenship, who spent one year in prison following the 2010 explosion at his Upper Big Branch Mine that killed 29 workers.

Story Continued Below

In propping up Blankenship, the Democratic Party is wading into an intensifying GOP civil war. Republicans are growing increasingly worried about Blankenship, who has been gaining traction in the primary. GOP officials in Washington are concerned that if Blankenship wins the nomination, he’ll ruin the party’s prospects of defeating Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin in November.

Last week, national Republicans launched a super PAC named Mountain Families PAC aimed at stopping Blankenship. The organization, which is staffed by consultants who’ve previously worked for a political group aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has begun airing TV commercials accusing Blankenship of contaminating drinking water by pumping toxic slurry while setting up a separate piping system to his mansion.

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

The Democratic group is spending over $380,000 to air the commercials. One of the TV spots says that as the former head of West Virginia State Medical Association, Jenkins pushed doctors to use an insurance company that overcharged, allowing his organization to profit. Another ad describes Morrisey as a carpetbagger, calling him a “millionaire New Yorker and former lobbyist who came down here and ran for office with no idea of the real challenges West Virginians face.”

The Democratic group has also begun sending out mailers describing Jenkins as "part of the swamp, part of the problem."

A Duty and Country spokesman, Mike Plante, said the group had no plans to go after Blankenship and was instead focused on his two rivals.

“We made the strategic decision based on data that shows that either Patrick Morrisey or Evan Jenkins is more likely to be the nominee, so that’s where we’re focusing our attention,” he said.

Duty and Country appears to have close ties to the national Democratic Party. In its federal filings, it lists the same downtown Washington address as other major party groups, including Senate Majority PAC, the main Democratic super PAC devoted to electing Senate Democrats.

In another twist, West Virginia attorney Booth Goodwin, who served as U.S. attorney in the case against Blankenship, is listed as the group’s treasurer.